


The Warmth of Steel

by tenthstar



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-25 06:50:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14971430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tenthstar/pseuds/tenthstar
Summary: In them, Spirit found the comfort he had long forgotten about.





	The Warmth of Steel

**Author's Note:**

> featured in [this](https://souleater-zine.tumblr.com/)!

In his eighteen years of life, Spirit Albarn had only ever truly loved two people.

The first was his wife, who was an incredible woman that had one of the strongest spirits he had ever encountered—which was _really_ saying something, considering he knew—

He shook his head.

(Some things were better left in the past after all.)

And the second he currently held in his arms, tiny hands grabbing at his thumb tightly.

Spirit turned to his exhausted wife, a sleepy smile on her face as she began to doze off. He felt his throat close up a little, all the emotions swirling inside him—joy, awe, anxiety, bewilderment, nervousness— struggling to be released all at once.

He had a family now.

(To think that one drunken bout of courage in confessing his admiration would lead to him having a family!

Spirit never thought he’d say this but, thank the heavens for whiskey.)

The tiny baby in his arms babbled happily, bringing him out of his musings. Spirit couldn’t help the smile that spread on his face. Not even a few hours in this world and she already had him wrapped around her little finger. He leaned down, kissing her forehead gently.

“My dear little girl,” he whispered caringly, adoration dancing in his eyes as he stared at her. “You’ve made me the happiest man in the world. Thank you, Maka.”

* * *

To those who knew him, it came as no surprise that Spirit was a doting father.

“—and you should have seen the way she drew us for art class! And on her test she got the highest marks out of the ENTIRE grade level!”

The entire cafe staff sighed _. No surprise whatsoever._

(Leave it to the newbie to ask about his daughter and god was it near impossible to shut him up once he started.)

“U-Um, Mr. Spirit,” One brave—and very tired—waiter began, “As nice as it is to here about your child—”

“Isn’t my little girl the greatest! I could go on about her forever,” Spirit claimed proudly, completely oblivious to the looks he was getting.

The waiter laughed nervously. “Yes… we are very, _very_ aware of that sir... but, do you think you might be ready to take your order with you now…?”

“Hm? Oh! Yes, yes, my bad, I just can’t help but lose track of time when I start thinking about how wonderful Maka is!”

 _‘We know,’_ was the immediate collective thought of everyone in the vicinity.

“But I’m actually going to be dining here.”

 _‘Please don’t,'_ was the second.

Spirit’s face light up so brightly most of the staff had to shield their eyes. “My wife’s bringing Maka since she’s done so well—”

“Papa!”

“—Maka!” Spirit exclaimed without missing a beat, turning around to greet his family.

(Briefly, the staff wondered if the ex-meister would make a decent addition to their little establishment, but then quickly dismissed the thought when they remembered _who_ they were talking about.

Their poor little ears could only take so much after all.

Still, it was nice to see Spirit in such high spirits now that he had a family.)

“Dear, there’s something you should know—”

“Maka! Come give daddy a hug!” Spirit cooed, oblivious to the world. Maka ran towards him, jumping up at him and—

Spirit blinked, staring down at the scythe in his hands. “Hmm?” He looked around the cafe, the other occupants of the cafe tried their hardest not to stare because _dear god this was really, really bad._

(Poor man, and just when things were beginning to look up for him. Seems like the past always catches up with you, doesn’t it?)

He turned to his wife, a pleasant but vacant smile on his face. “Dear? Where did Maka go?”

“You’re holding her.”

Spirit’s eyes widened almost comically. “You mean... this thing here?” He swung the scythe, ignoring how it giggled in delight. “I mean, sure it’s a beauty but seriously dear, don’t you think the joke’s going a little too far? I mean,” he laughed almost cheerfully, and everyone else began to rush out immediately, because heaven knows they didn’t want to be there when the infamous Spirit Albarn, once a powerful meister who retired after the _“incident that shan’t be named_ ”, found out that his child was a weapon.

His wife said nothing, merely taking a seat at a vacant table. “Life’s a funny thing, isn’t it?”

“Dear—”

“Papa?” the scythe spoke quietly, and Spirit took a deep breath before looking down at the weapon—because this couldn’t be his daughter, it was impossible! Neither him or his wife had demon blood so how… how was she a weapon? “Does...does it make you upset that I’m a weapon?” Slowly, the weapon began to shift back, his hands now holding onto warmth instead of cold steel. Maka looked down at her feet. “The doctor told mom that it was an abnormality and... I’m sorry, I won’t transform anymore.”

Spirit could feel a bit of his heart break. His past sins aside,  it wasn’t Maka’s fault. He let out a deep breath, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Maka—”

“She wanted you to be her wielder after she heard all those stories about you in your meister days.”

Oh, well if his heart hadn’t shattered before, then it most definitely did now. His wife really knew where his weak points were.

“Maka,” he hugged her gently, smiling as he felt her small arms encircle him. “Daddy would be honored to be your meister.”

“...really?”

He pulled back, using the brightest smile he could muster. “Really. In fact,” Spirit picked Maka up and pointed towards the door. “Why don’t we test out our teamwork in the city square?”

“Okay!” Maka exclaimed happily. Her body glowed again, and Spirit tried not to remember his previous meister days.

(Weapons were cold. Cold like bodies that no longer moved, bodies of weapons he had failed and promised to never wield again. His failure led to those losses. Everyone knew because he lost so many—)

A hand fell on his shoulder, and Spirit turned to see his wife smiling at him.

“It’ll be okay,” she told him quietly, leading him out the door. He heard her exchange a few words with the staff that had waited outside, and then she was at his side again, walking them towards the city square. “This time, it’ll be okay.”

He jumped a bit when he felt a warmth radiating off the scythe. Maka’s voice came through quietly, “Papa I know about... what happened... but it’s okay now! I’ll be the best weapon out there so... you don’t have to worry anymore. Because you’ll have me at your side!”

Spirit felt himself smile. He gripped the scythe a bit more firmly, feeling his soul begin to resonate with Maka’s.

“Yes, and papa will make sure that you have the best meister around,” he teased lightly, a pleasant warmth filling his heart. He had once vowed to never wield a weapon again and yet... here, with Maka in his arms and his wife at his side, he felt that this time, everything would be okay.


End file.
